Lomé Star Grillz

Dawgtired

i guess it’s one of those “the more I learn, the dumber I get kind of thing”. I just read The BBQ Manifesto by AyAyRon so I understand the creosote part of smoking with charcoal vs stick burners, etc. I was all over KarBQ and possibly still am. However, the Lone Star Grillz certainly have my attention now, as well. Looking at the vertical cabinets, it appears they use charcoal. So my question is, other than more cooking area, what possible advantage could that have over my BGEs? Maybe I’m missing something, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Slippy

The LSG vertical cabinets still use wood. I have a smoker similar to the LSG offset, and there really is no comparison to a BGE when it comes to smoked meat (IMO)... 100% wood is much better than charcoal for low and slow cooks. For some really long cooks, I will smoke in the offset for several hours, then move to the Egg to finish overnight... But I still prefer all wood when time permits... I really wanted a LSG but found another smoker, locally, that I liked almost as much, and no pricey shipping...

Slippy

I see they now sell an insulated cabinet... That's probably what you are referring to. Not too keen those... But hey, I'm old skool.

Dawgtired

Yes sir...I was referring to the insulated cabinet

Dawgtired

I just looked at my title for this thread. How that happened, I’m not sure. Obviously should be Lone Star Grillz

lkapigian

Like you say, more real estate. There is a bit more air flow ( not like a stick) so the smoke profile will be better than the egg on a vertical but not as good as a stick IMO. I just ordered Stumps XL Stretch and cant wait.I still have my stick burners 

HeavyG

I was considering buying one of the Lone Star insulated vertical cabinets a couple years ago. They use charcoal not sticks.

I don't have the direct experience with their insulated cabinet to say whether the finished results are significantly different from a kamado but since the LS insulated are using KBB or lump I don't believe there would be.

Ultimately I decided that other than more capacity (which I  didn't really need) that they don't function much differently than my kamados (other than never cracking that is ).

DoubleEgger

Check out Deep South Smokers in Cumming. They make a really nice gravity feed and have gotten into some cabinet style offset hybrids as well. 

Dawgtired

Kind of what I was thinking, but wasn’t sure if I was missing something. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Most insulated cabinets use a choked down charcoal fire just like a bge. More real estate, same dirty fire. 

If you want a clean burning fire in a vertical cabinet you should look at the gravity Fed models. I came across these when doing my KBQ research and was very close to pulling the trigger before running into the kbq. 

Gravity fed cookers still use charcoal and chips/chunks but they do run a very small fully ignited cleaner fire. It’s pretty ingenious but in the end, after all my research, I decided that if I was going to add another cooker I wanted it to burn a 100% wood. 

littlerascal56

My gravity fed cooked great, and produced that nice light blue smoke.  It does impart a wonderful smoke profile in the food, as all that wood smoke has to pass thru that hot fire chamber before entering the cabinet!  It really cleans that smoke up!

Dawgtired

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Most insulated cabinets use a choked down charcoal fire just like a bge. More real estate, same dirty fire. 

If you want a clean burning fire in a vertical cabinet you should look at the gravity Fed models. I came across these when doing my KBQ research and was very close to pulling the trigger before running into the kbq. 

Gravity fed cookers still use charcoal and chips/chunks but they do run a very small fully ignited cleaner fire. It’s pretty ingenious but in the end, after all my research, I decided that if I was going to add another cooker I wanted it to burn a 100% wood. 

I’m likely back on board the KBQ train. My only concern is refueling the fire every 30 mins or so. Chicken, etc, on shorter cooks, I could easily deal with with. Briskets and butts, are my concern. 

Slippy

Dawgtired said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Most insulated cabinets use a choked down charcoal fire just like a bge. More real estate, same dirty fire. 

If you want a clean burning fire in a vertical cabinet you should look at the gravity Fed models. I came across these when doing my KBQ research and was very close to pulling the trigger before running into the kbq. 

Gravity fed cookers still use charcoal and chips/chunks but they do run a very small fully ignited cleaner fire. It’s pretty ingenious but in the end, after all my research, I decided that if I was going to add another cooker I wanted it to burn a 100% wood. 

I’m likely back on board the KBQ train. My only concern is refueling the fire every 30 mins or so. Chicken, etc, on shorter cooks, I could easily deal with with. Briskets and butts, are my concern. 

How about an offset vertical? https://lonestargrillz.com/collections/smokers/products/24-x-24-offset-vertical-smoker 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Dawgtired said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Most insulated cabinets use a choked down charcoal fire just like a bge. More real estate, same dirty fire. 

If you want a clean burning fire in a vertical cabinet you should look at the gravity Fed models. I came across these when doing my KBQ research and was very close to pulling the trigger before running into the kbq. 

Gravity fed cookers still use charcoal and chips/chunks but they do run a very small fully ignited cleaner fire. It’s pretty ingenious but in the end, after all my research, I decided that if I was going to add another cooker I wanted it to burn a 100% wood. 

I’m likely back on board the KBQ train. My only concern is refueling the fire every 30 mins or so. Chicken, etc, on shorter cooks, I could easily deal with with. Briskets and butts, are my concern. 

 brisket and butts are an ass-whip with all wood burning cookers. There is no way around it. I still do most on my bge for that reason. 

I have done several “50/50” brisket cooks on my kbq. I cook until or through the stall, rapid cool in the freezer for an hour, then refrigerate and finish the next day. They have all turned out great with no discernable difference in quality. It’s more of a PITA than a bge cook but it is a very workable alternative when you don’t want to stay up all night but still want to cook over a wood fire.

FWIW, some of the more legendary joints down here (notably Salt Lick In Driftwood and Blacks in Lockhart) Cook all their briskets this way. Often refrigerating for several days before finishing them off for service. 

It’s still a far cry from the “set and forget” nature of a bge or cabinet smoker but that’s part of the fun and the results speak for themselves. 

HeavyG

Dawgtired said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Most insulated cabinets use a choked down charcoal fire just like a bge. More real estate, same dirty fire. 

If you want a clean burning fire in a vertical cabinet you should look at the gravity Fed models. I came across these when doing my KBQ research and was very close to pulling the trigger before running into the kbq. 

Gravity fed cookers still use charcoal and chips/chunks but they do run a very small fully ignited cleaner fire. It’s pretty ingenious but in the end, after all my research, I decided that if I was going to add another cooker I wanted it to burn a 100% wood. 

I’m likely back on board the KBQ train. My only concern is refueling the fire every 30 mins or so. Chicken, etc, on shorter cooks, I could easily deal with with. Briskets and butts, are my concern. 

What is your workflow when cooking a brisket/butt? Do you wrap either one at some point?

If you do wrap then take it out of the KBQ and finish it in the kitchen oven. Once it is wrapped it is no longer going to be taking on more smoke so why keep burning wood? Putting it in the oven can save you a few hours of having to feed sticks every half hour or so.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

HeavyG said:

Dawgtired said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Most insulated cabinets use a choked down charcoal fire just like a bge. More real estate, same dirty fire. 

If you want a clean burning fire in a vertical cabinet you should look at the gravity Fed models. I came across these when doing my KBQ research and was very close to pulling the trigger before running into the kbq. 

Gravity fed cookers still use charcoal and chips/chunks but they do run a very small fully ignited cleaner fire. It’s pretty ingenious but in the end, after all my research, I decided that if I was going to add another cooker I wanted it to burn a 100% wood. 

I’m likely back on board the KBQ train. My only concern is refueling the fire every 30 mins or so. Chicken, etc, on shorter cooks, I could easily deal with with. Briskets and butts, are my concern. 

What is your workflow when cooking a brisket/butt? Do you wrap either one at some point?

If you do wrap then take it out of the KBQ and finish it in the kitchen oven. Once it is wrapped it is no longer going to be taking on more smoke so why keep burning wood? Putting it in the oven can save you a few hours of having to feed sticks every half hour or so.

For sure. You can cook a little hotter and wrap at the stall and finish anywhere you want (egg, oven etc). My only thought in this is that I find my barkndoes not set up until later in the Cook on the kbq so I often don’t wrap at all when cooking onnit
 

Dawgtired

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Dawgtired said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Most insulated cabinets use a choked down charcoal fire just like a bge. More real estate, same dirty fire. 

If you want a clean burning fire in a vertical cabinet you should look at the gravity Fed models. I came across these when doing my KBQ research and was very close to pulling the trigger before running into the kbq. 

Gravity fed cookers still use charcoal and chips/chunks but they do run a very small fully ignited cleaner fire. It’s pretty ingenious but in the end, after all my research, I decided that if I was going to add another cooker I wanted it to burn a 100% wood. 

I’m likely back on board the KBQ train. My only concern is refueling the fire every 30 mins or so. Chicken, etc, on shorter cooks, I could easily deal with with. Briskets and butts, are my concern. 

 brisket and butts are an ass-whip with all wood burning cookers. There is no way around it. I still do most on my bge for that reason. 

I have done several “50/50” brisket cooks on my kbq. I cook until or through the stall, rapid cool in the freezer for an hour, then refrigerate and finish the next day. They have all turned out great with no discernable difference in quality. It’s more of a PITA than a bge cook but it is a very workable alternative when you don’t want to stay up all night but still want to cook over a wood fire.

FWIW, some of the more legendary joints down here (notably Salt Lick In Driftwood and Blacks in Lockhart) Cook all their briskets this way. Often refrigerating for several days before finishing them off for service. 

It’s still a far cry from the “set and forget” nature of a bge or cabinet smoker but that’s part of the fun and the results speak for themselves. 

So you pull them around 170 or so, then in the freezer?

Dawgtired

Slippy said:

Dawgtired said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Most insulated cabinets use a choked down charcoal fire just like a bge. More real estate, same dirty fire. 

If you want a clean burning fire in a vertical cabinet you should look at the gravity Fed models. I came across these when doing my KBQ research and was very close to pulling the trigger before running into the kbq. 

Gravity fed cookers still use charcoal and chips/chunks but they do run a very small fully ignited cleaner fire. It’s pretty ingenious but in the end, after all my research, I decided that if I was going to add another cooker I wanted it to burn a 100% wood. 

I’m likely back on board the KBQ train. My only concern is refueling the fire every 30 mins or so. Chicken, etc, on shorter cooks, I could easily deal with with. Briskets and butts, are my concern. 

How about an offset vertical? https://lonestargrillz.com/collections/smokers/products/24-x-24-offset-vertical-That is definitely worth exploring. Anyone have one of these or thoughts about it?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Dawgtired said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Dawgtired said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Most insulated cabinets use a choked down charcoal fire just like a bge. More real estate, same dirty fire. 

If you want a clean burning fire in a vertical cabinet you should look at the gravity Fed models. I came across these when doing my KBQ research and was very close to pulling the trigger before running into the kbq. 

Gravity fed cookers still use charcoal and chips/chunks but they do run a very small fully ignited cleaner fire. It’s pretty ingenious but in the end, after all my research, I decided that if I was going to add another cooker I wanted it to burn a 100% wood. 

I’m likely back on board the KBQ train. My only concern is refueling the fire every 30 mins or so. Chicken, etc, on shorter cooks, I could easily deal with with. Briskets and butts, are my concern. 

 brisket and butts are an ass-whip with all wood burning cookers. There is no way around it. I still do most on my bge for that reason. 

I have done several “50/50” brisket cooks on my kbq. I cook until or through the stall, rapid cool in the freezer for an hour, then refrigerate and finish the next day. They have all turned out great with no discernable difference in quality. It’s more of a PITA than a bge cook but it is a very workable alternative when you don’t want to stay up all night but still want to cook over a wood fire.

FWIW, some of the more legendary joints down here (notably Salt Lick In Driftwood and Blacks in Lockhart) Cook all their briskets this way. Often refrigerating for several days before finishing them off for service. 

It’s still a far cry from the “set and forget” nature of a bge or cabinet smoker but that’s part of the fun and the results speak for themselves. 

So you pull them around 170 or so, then in the freezer?

Yep. They usually get there in 6-8 hours. Then freezer until the internal temp drops to under 100 then fridge until I’m ready  finish. Another 6-8 hours to get it finished. 

Slippy

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Dawgtired said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Dawgtired said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Most insulated cabinets use a choked down charcoal fire just like a bge. More real estate, same dirty fire. 

If you want a clean burning fire in a vertical cabinet you should look at the gravity Fed models. I came across these when doing my KBQ research and was very close to pulling the trigger before running into the kbq. 

Gravity fed cookers still use charcoal and chips/chunks but they do run a very small fully ignited cleaner fire. It’s pretty ingenious but in the end, after all my research, I decided that if I was going to add another cooker I wanted it to burn a 100% wood. 

I’m likely back on board the KBQ train. My only concern is refueling the fire every 30 mins or so. Chicken, etc, on shorter cooks, I could easily deal with with. Briskets and butts, are my concern. 

 brisket and butts are an ass-whip with all wood burning cookers. There is no way around it. I still do most on my bge for that reason. 

I have done several “50/50” brisket cooks on my kbq. I cook until or through the stall, rapid cool in the freezer for an hour, then refrigerate and finish the next day. They have all turned out great with no discernable difference in quality. It’s more of a PITA than a bge cook but it is a very workable alternative when you don’t want to stay up all night but still want to cook over a wood fire.

FWIW, some of the more legendary joints down here (notably Salt Lick In Driftwood and Blacks in Lockhart) Cook all their briskets this way. Often refrigerating for several days before finishing them off for service. 

It’s still a far cry from the “set and forget” nature of a bge or cabinet smoker but that’s part of the fun and the results speak for themselves. 

So you pull them around 170 or so, then in the freezer?

Yep. They usually get there in 6-8 hours. Then freezer until the internal temp drops to under 100 then fridge until I’m ready  finish. Another 6-8 hours to get it finished. 

It's interesting that you describe this technique now... Not an hour ago I was reading this on the TM BBQ finder app, and had not heard that prior... Intrigued... This is at Kirby's in Mexia. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Slippy said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Dawgtired said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Dawgtired said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Most insulated cabinets use a choked down charcoal fire just like a bge. More real estate, same dirty fire. 

If you want a clean burning fire in a vertical cabinet you should look at the gravity Fed models. I came across these when doing my KBQ research and was very close to pulling the trigger before running into the kbq. 

Gravity fed cookers still use charcoal and chips/chunks but they do run a very small fully ignited cleaner fire. It’s pretty ingenious but in the end, after all my research, I decided that if I was going to add another cooker I wanted it to burn a 100% wood. 

I’m likely back on board the KBQ train. My only concern is refueling the fire every 30 mins or so. Chicken, etc, on shorter cooks, I could easily deal with with. Briskets and butts, are my concern. 

 brisket and butts are an ass-whip with all wood burning cookers. There is no way around it. I still do most on my bge for that reason. 

I have done several “50/50” brisket cooks on my kbq. I cook until or through the stall, rapid cool in the freezer for an hour, then refrigerate and finish the next day. They have all turned out great with no discernable difference in quality. It’s more of a PITA than a bge cook but it is a very workable alternative when you don’t want to stay up all night but still want to cook over a wood fire.

FWIW, some of the more legendary joints down here (notably Salt Lick In Driftwood and Blacks in Lockhart) Cook all their briskets this way. Often refrigerating for several days before finishing them off for service. 

It’s still a far cry from the “set and forget” nature of a bge or cabinet smoker but that’s part of the fun and the results speak for themselves. 

So you pull them around 170 or so, then in the freezer?

Yep. They usually get there in 6-8 hours. Then freezer until the internal temp drops to under 100 then fridge until I’m ready  finish. Another 6-8 hours to get it finished. 

It's interesting that you describe this technique now... Not an hour ago I was reading this on the TM BBQ finder app, and had not heard that prior... Intrigued... This is at Kirby's in Mexia. 

My sister has a place 12 miles from Mexia. I’ll have to check it out when I visit in a few weeks. 

Slippy

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Slippy said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Dawgtired said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Dawgtired said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Most insulated cabinets use a choked down charcoal fire just like a bge. More real estate, same dirty fire. 

If you want a clean burning fire in a vertical cabinet you should look at the gravity Fed models. I came across these when doing my KBQ research and was very close to pulling the trigger before running into the kbq. 

Gravity fed cookers still use charcoal and chips/chunks but they do run a very small fully ignited cleaner fire. It’s pretty ingenious but in the end, after all my research, I decided that if I was going to add another cooker I wanted it to burn a 100% wood. 

I’m likely back on board the KBQ train. My only concern is refueling the fire every 30 mins or so. Chicken, etc, on shorter cooks, I could easily deal with with. Briskets and butts, are my concern. 

 brisket and butts are an ass-whip with all wood burning cookers. There is no way around it. I still do most on my bge for that reason. 

I have done several “50/50” brisket cooks on my kbq. I cook until or through the stall, rapid cool in the freezer for an hour, then refrigerate and finish the next day. They have all turned out great with no discernable difference in quality. It’s more of a PITA than a bge cook but it is a very workable alternative when you don’t want to stay up all night but still want to cook over a wood fire.

FWIW, some of the more legendary joints down here (notably Salt Lick In Driftwood and Blacks in Lockhart) Cook all their briskets this way. Often refrigerating for several days before finishing them off for service. 

It’s still a far cry from the “set and forget” nature of a bge or cabinet smoker but that’s part of the fun and the results speak for themselves. 

So you pull them around 170 or so, then in the freezer?

Yep. They usually get there in 6-8 hours. Then freezer until the internal temp drops to under 100 then fridge until I’m ready  finish. Another 6-8 hours to get it finished. 

It's interesting that you describe this technique now... Not an hour ago I was reading this on the TM BBQ finder app, and had not heard that prior... Intrigued... This is at Kirby's in Mexia. 

My sister has a place 12 miles from Mexia. I’ll have to check it out when I visit in a few weeks. 

Got a 4.5 rating in TM... Must be pretty good. 

SGH

For the record Lonestar has some vertical offsets as well. They are not insulated cabinet smokers and they run just like a traditional horizontal offset. 
With that said, and this almost goes without saying, they draft slightly different than a horizontal. Nonetheless they are outstanding offsets in their own right. 
Here is one of their vertical offsets. 

The above is not an insulated cabinet. It is a true stick burner in every sense of the word.  

Dawgtired

Thanks everyone for the responses. 

jonessteave

Built-in Grills

I'm looking to renovate my backyard and put in a small outdoor kitchen (Probably an L-shaped Island). I currently have a 14 yo Weber Summit s-650 that's still going strong and a Kamado Joe Classic (first gen). I wanted to go with a Big Joe III and look at builtins. How are Napoleons? I was looking at the prestige pro 825 since it has the infrared sear burners. Are there any other options for builtins? What about Summerset? I'm not sure I want to get into the Lynx or Kalamazoo as I'd like to keep it under 5k for both grills.

Money_Hillbilly

@jonessteave My son has an outdoor store, sells grills and builds outdoor kitchens.  His primary recommendations for mid-priced gassers are Napoleon, RCS and Blaze.  All three are excellent products with good warranties.  I personally like the light up knobs on the Napoleon.  When a burner is lit the knob turns red lessening folks forgetting to turn off the burner when removing proteins.   This happens all the time, not a really big problem with propane since you run out of gas, but natural gas is a really big problem.  The doors pictured are RCS, I like the recessed handles, RCS also offers a 5 year warranty on their refrigerators, most others are one year.

Money_Hillbilly

@Dawgtired I have both the KBQ and a large gravity fed unit.  I tend to use them both differently.  The KBQ makes the best ribs I have ever smoked.  I prefer the gravity fed unit for long duration cooks like briskets and butts.  My unit is really big and I run a Flame Boss 500 controller with a pit viper fan.  Since the Flame Boss operates the fan at variable speeds I get a constant flow of air that makes continuous blue smoke.  I get terrific bark and run for 12+ hours without touching anything.  

alaskanassasin

@jonessteave

is a bot… you are talking to a computer @Money_Hillbilly

alaskanassasin

Good info non the less.